Turkey denies allegations of harassing Greek plane
Athens had claimed that Turkish warplanes had buzzed an Olympic Airlines flight en route to Istanbul.
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June 10— Turkey’s General Staff has issued a formal denial of Greek claims that Turkish F-16s deliberately harassed a Greek passenger jet.
In the statement, released on Tuesday, the General Staff said that the claims were completely unfounded. According to the statement, there were no Turkish military aircraft within ten kilometres of the Olympic Airlines flight at the centre of the allegations.
“This news is totally wrong and it is a provocation,” the statement read. “Flying ten kilometres away from a civilian plane is neither a violation nor harassment.”
On Monday, the Greek government claimed that Turkish warplanes had flown so close to the Olympic Airlines plane as to constitute a threat to safety.
NATO, of which both Turkey and Greece are members, had been informed of the alleged incident, according to Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas.
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